Discussion summary from Breakfast with the CEOSalem Health CEO Norm Gruber dialogued with physicians about a range of important issues at February's breakfasts. He answered questions, including what a young person considering medicine should think about and the effect Zoom Care may have in Salem. Read the questions and Norm Gruber's responses.

Leaders from Integrated Healthcare Strategies (IHS), the company who conducted the medical staff engagement survey, will be here April 15 and 16 to share survey results and gather your ideas to address issues identified in the survey.

Please email Mary Maberry, Physician Office Liaison, or call 503-561-3778 with the session you would like to attend.

Wednesday, April 15, 12 to 1 p.m.

Thursday, April 16, 6:30 to 7:30 a.m.

Thursday, April 16, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

All sessions are located in Building A, sixth floor conference room, and a meal will be provided.

Based on IHS's experience in analyzing the most powerful drivers of physician engagement, obtaining your input during these sessions is essential so that action plans are developed that address what's important to our providers and positions Salem Health for the future.

Come hear what your peers have to say and help make your medical staff experience the best it can be!

To assist WVP IPA providers through the change from the Salem Health answering service, the WVP Health Authority reached out to the answering service providers detailed in Dr. Garrison's letter. After discussions with these groups, WVP was able to reach an agreeable contract with Physicians Answering Service.

In addition to the beneficial rates, Physicians Answering Service has excellent customer service, serves over 800 provider offices in Oregon and Washington and has been instrumental in three other community transitions from hospital-based answering services to private companies. This service, at the WVP contracted rates, is available to interested independent provider offices. Please contact Krista Lovaas, WVP Provider and Government Relations Manager, at 503-587-5123 or krista@mvipa.org with any questions or for more information.

The Marion-Polk County Medical Society researched vendors who provide paging services. After a thorough review process, the Medical Society chose Spoke Mobile as their vendor and negotiated discounted rates.

Spoke Mobile is the leader in an array of mobile technology services for the health care industry, and provides health care paging in Portland and the northwest. Testing was done throughout the Marion-Polk region to ensure appropriate coverage.

The Marion-Polk Medical Society has contracted with Spoke to provide alpha and virtual paging services. The alpha paging service is a traditional pager unit, while the virtual paging utilizes a state-of-the-art HIPPA compliant application that is downloaded to your smartphone to allow you to receive pages to your smart phone without the need for an additional device.

The agreement the Medical Society has negotiated allows the provider to select either the paging option or a combination of both. For more information, please contact the Medical Society office at 503-362-9669.

WHP Family Medicine KeizerService Excellence Team Award, Working and Caring Together

Willamette Health Partners (WHP) Family Medicine Keizer exemplifies "Exceptional Experience Every Time." Although this clinic is the busiest within WHP Family Medicine, it also has the highest patient satisfaction scores. The physicians and staff, including Ronald Palm, MD; Mojgan Mohandesi, MD; and William Carnett, MD, never let the work get in the way of spending time with patients and patient families. The comments received from patients each month consistently rave about the physicians and staff and how much they care about every single person that walks through the door. This team is truly a team. They are a "Family Caring for Families."

Silverton Health is in talks with Legacy Health about a potential partnership. Though Providence Health had been a front runner in past discussions, Silverton is officially pursing a relationship with Legacy. Read: "Silverton Health in affiliation talks with Legacy" from the Statesman Journal on March 17, 2015.

You are invited on Friday, April 17, to the fourth annual Cancer Symposium for Primary Care hosted by the Salem Cancer Institute (SCI).

From 12:30 to 6 p.m., at the Salem Conference Center, you will have an opportunity to better understand how to manage your cancer patients and coordinate with cancer specialists while earning 5.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits(s)™.

Physicians from OHSU, Kaiser Permanente, Silver Falls Dermatology and SCI will present on topics including "Genetic Risk Assessment for Inherited Cancer Syndrome," "Nutrition and Cancer-Can We Really Make a Difference," and "Watch Your Back: Early Detection of Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers."